'Do the Recall Leaders Have to Throw Away All the Petitions?'

Randy Dotinga and Lisa Halverstadt put together a FAQ on the recall process. It included answers for questions like “How much is all this going to cost?” But one reader offered another question he wanted answered:

Don Wood:

Here is a question I’d like a straight answer to. The city attorney has stated that the current city recall ordinances are unconstitutional. Yet signature petitions have begun circulating under the current ordinances. The City Council plans to sit down toward the end of the month and may substantially amend the recall ordinances to make them constitutional. If that happens, do the recall leaders have to throw away all the petitions they have gathered up until the ordinance change, and start the recall process all over again with a notice in local media and to the city clerk? If the recall leaders hold onto petitions signed before the ordinances were changed, are those petitions legal and can they be turned in too meet the signature requirements to trigger a recall election, or are they illegal since they were gathered under the city’s current unconstitutional recall ordinances?

Halverstadt replied:

Hi Don,

Thanks for your question.

The city attorney’s office says it won’t enforce the provision in the city’s recall rules that’s considered unconstitutional regardless of the City Council’s actions so that provision shouldn’t affect the recall process or organizers’ signature-gathering efforts.

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